Rock and Roll History Thread Special Edition: RONNIE JAMES DIO HAS DIED, 1942-2010.

[ABlairican Pie]

The tragic news this morning, May 16, 2010, is that Ronnie James Dio, the legendary, iconic vocalist for Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Rainbow, Elf, and his own self-named band Dio, lost his battle with cancer at the age of 67. His long and amazingly productive career helped shaped the direction of heavy metal with not only his distinctive singing style, but his enigmatic stage presence and imaginative lyrics.

In this special edition, we shall take a look at the stellar career of the man who gave us such songs as "Rainbow In the Dark", "Heaven and Hell", "The Last In Line", and--

the Horns.

[ABlairican Pie]

The man who would become Dio was born Ronnie James Padanova in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on July 10, 1942. As an only child, he was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, with which he was frustrated and uncomfortable, and attended a Roman Catholic school.

Ronnie first learned to play the trumpet as a child until he became hooked on the pull of early rock and roll. He joined his first rockabilly bands in 1957, such as The Vegas Kings, where he played bass, and fronted such rockabilly and doo-wop bands as Ronnie & The Rumblers and Ronnie & The Red Caps. He released a few singles while with these bands, such as "Lover", where he sang background vocals, with "Conquest" on the B-side, which featured Ronnie on trumpet. The flipside song was in the style of such surf-rock bands as The Ventures, who were popular at the time.

Ronnie graduated from Cortland City School in 1960, and attended the University of Buffalo, majoring in pharmacy. He was also offered a scholarship at Julliard School of Music, but declined due to his growing interest in rock music. Though never trained in vocals, he credits his unique singing ability due to breathing techniques he implemented while learning to play the French horn. Ronnie changed his last name to Ronnie Dio after the famous Mafioso Johnny Dio. During this time, he also formed the band, Ronnie Dio and The Prophets, which lasted several years. They released one album and several singles.

Ronnie Dio & The Red Caps--'An Angel Is Missing':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmbuHKuyDRc

Ronnie Dio & The Prophets--'Love Pains'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ3OjffJ1w0&NR=1

Ronnie Dio & The Prophets--'Gonna Make It Alone':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlRJJ...eature=related

Ronnie Dio & The Prophets--'The Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nZce...eature=related

Here are a few photos of Ronnie James Dio with his band Ronnie Dio and the Prophets in the early-mid-60's, and a photo of Ronnie & The Red Caps at bottom:

[ABlairican Pie]

By 1967, Ronnie Dio & The Prophets had broken up. Ronnie and Prophets guitarist Nick Pantas decided to form a new band called Electric Elves, eventually becoming The Elves, and finally Elf in 1969. Tragically, Pantas lost his life in a car accident in 1970. The band continued on for the next few years, with Ronnie playing bass as well as vocals. The band opened for rising metal band Deep Purple on one of their first tours of America, and Ronnie's soaring vocals caught the attention of Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. The band's music is a kind of heavy boogie blues-rock that was popular in the early 70's.

The lineup included:

Ronnie James Dio, 1967-1975, lead vocals, bass
David "Rock" Feinstein, 1967-1973, lead guitar
Doug Thaler, 1967-1972, keyboards
Nick Pantas, 1967-1970, guitar
Gary Driscoll, 1967-1975, drums
Micky Lee Soule, 1970-1975, keyboards, backing vocals
Steve Edwards, 1973-1975, lead guitar
Craig Gruber, 1973-1975, bass
Mark Nauseef, 1975, percussion

Doug Thaler went on to co-manage Motley Crue in 1983, and other acts such as as Art Garfunkel, Bruce Hornsby & Ratdog.

David Feinstein went on to form the moderately successful late 70's/early 80's metal act The Rods, which toured with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Metallica.

Elf released their self-titled debut album in 1972, which featured such tracks as "Hootchie Kootchie Lady", "First Avenue", and "Never More". Other albums followed including Carolina County Ball, which featured the popular track "Ain't It All Amusing", and Trying To Burn the Sun in 1975, which included such songs as "Black Swampy Water", "When She Smiles", and "Good Time Music", among others.

Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover asked Ronnie to appear on his solo album, 'The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'. Ronnie's singing style
soon piqued the interest of Purple guitarist Blackmore, and he asked Ronnie
to sing for his own solo project, which was to be named Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. To this end, Blackmore summoned all the musicians in Elf with the exception of guitarist Steve Edwards, which spelled the end of Elf.

Elf--'Happy'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJNJE...aynext_from=ML

Elf--'Ain't It All Amusing'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbZ4i...eature=related

Elf--Rocking Chair Rocking Blues'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRQOa...eature=related

Elf--'Gambler, Gambler'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duqcb...eature=related

Elf--'Hootchie Kootchie Lady'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCVyV...eature=related

[Dr. Thong]

This is a great tribute to a great legend.

The Ronnie & Prophets/Red Caps stuff is mind-blowing! He sounds so young. You can tell it's him, but it's a long way from demons and wizards, that's for sure.

Thanks for posting these clips!

[phoebe7165]

Originally Posted by ABlairican Pie

Ronnie graduated from Cortland City School in 1960, and attended the University of Buffalo, majoring in pharmacy.

Can you imagine going to CVS or Walgreens and seeing him behind the pharmacy counter in a white lab coat??

Here are a few photos of Ronnie James Dio with his band Ronnie Dio and the Prophets in the early-mid-60's, and a photo of Ronnie & The Red Caps at bottom:

I'm getting such a kick out of those photos. I certainly wouldn't recognize it was him from just looking at them!

[Ohio8]

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by phoebe7165

Can you imagine going to CVS or Walgreens and seeing him behind the pharmacy counter in a white lab coat??

"Now, Mrs. Wilson, don't take more than the prescribed dosage of this medication, because if you do...LOOK OUT!!!"

[ABlairican Pie]

In 1975, as Elf dissolved, Ronnie James Dio entered the new phase of his musical career as the frontman for former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's new band, Rainbow. Elf members keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber, and drummer Gary Driscoll all joined the band. Blackmore was frustrated with the funk direction of Deep Purple at this point, and was impressed with Dio's vocals that he decided to form his own band. Blackmore named the new band after the familiar L.A. hangout spot for rockers, the Rainbow Bar and Grill. Blackmore and Dio formed a tight-knit musical rapport that they wrote a number of songs together to complete an album. While Elf was technically a boogie-based band, Blackmore wanted Rainbow to be more influenced by classical and medieval music.

The album included such tracks as the hugely popular "Man On the Silver Mountain", "Black Sheep Of the Family", a cover by Quartermass which Deep Purple refused to feature on their 1974 'Stormbringer' album, "Catch the Rainbow", "The Temple Of the King", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", and a Yardbirds cover, "Still I'm Sad".

Man On the Silver Mountain

I'm a wheel, I'm a wheel
I can roll, I can feel
And you can't stop me turning

Cause I'm the sun, I'm the sun
I can move, I can run
But you'll never stop me burning

Come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Someone's screaming my name
Come and make me holy again

I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain

I'm the day, I'm the day
I can show you the way
And look, I'm right beside you

I'm the night, I'm the night
I'm the dark and the light
With eyes that see inside you

Come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Someone's screaming my name
Come and make me holy again

I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain

Come down with fire
And lift my spirit higher
Someone's screaming my name
Come and make me holy again

Well, I can help you, you know I can

I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain

Just look at me and listen
I'm the man, the man, give you my hand
I'm the man on the silver mountain

Come down with fire
And lift your spirit higher
I'm the man on the mountain
The man on the silver mountain
I'm the night, the light
The black and the white
The man on the silver mountain


Black Sheep Of the Family

I've got nothing in my head
Got a floor for a bed
The future's at the bottom of a tea cup

I got a half a pair of shoes
And no time to lose
I'm wondering when I'm going to wise up

So, fortune shine your light on me and my clothes
Cause we need some security
You get a little bad luck
And it grows and it grows
I'm the black sheep of the family

I've got half a pound of rice
A beard full of lice
A mission called retrogression

I've got pocket full of dust
And eating is a must
You want to make a good impression

So, fortune shine your light on me and my dog
Cause we need some security
While all the folks are living high up the hill
I'm the black sheep of the family

Don't talk to me about society
You got to pay the rules
Or pay the penalty

Because there's nothing to choose
Between a handful of blues
Double indemnity

The hour was wrong
And my shadow's getting long
My real life's a song, don't need much
But I've got an ache in my head
I wanna go to bed
Tomorrow I don't have to wake up, no

So wisdom shine your light on me and my knees
Cause it's true what they say about familiarity
There's nothing good this way
And it's true they say
I'm the black sheep of the family

Oh, my wisdom shine your light on me and my knees
It's true what they say about familiarity
There's nothing good this way
And it's true they say
I'm the black sheep of the family
Yeah, yeah

I'm the black sheep of the family
Just me and my dog, yeah, yeah
I'm the black sheep of the family
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm the black sheep of the family
You've got me on my knees
I'm the black sheep of the family
Yeah, yeah, yeah


Catch the Rainbow

When evening falls
She'll run to me
Like whispered dreams
Your eyes can't see

Soft and warm
She'll touch my face
A bed of straw
Against the lace

We believed we'd catch the rainbow
Ride the wind to the sun
Sail away on ships of wonder

But life's not a wheel
With chains made of steel
So bless me

Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn

We believed we'd catch the rainbow
Ride the wind to the sun
And sail away on ships of wonder

But life's not a wheel
With chains made of steel
So bless me, oh bless me, bless me

Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn

[ABlairican Pie]

'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow' was definitely Dio's first full-on foray into medieval and fantasy themes in rock, a motif that he would continue in the remainder of his career.

The Temple Of the King

One day in the year of the fox
Came a time remembered well
When the strong young man of the rising sun
Heard the tolling of the great black bell

One day in the year of the fox
When the bell began to ring
Meant the time had cometh
For one to go
To the temple of the king

There in the middle of the circle he stands
Searching, seeking
With just one touch of his trembling hand
The answer will be found

Daylight waits while the old man sings
Heaven help me
And then like the rush of a thousand wings
It shines upon the one
And the day had just begun

One day in the year of the fox
Came a time remembered well
When the strong young man of the rising sun
Heard the tolling of the great black bell

One day in the year of the fox
When the bell began to sing
It meant the time had cometh
For one to go
To the temple of the king

There in the middle of the people
He stands
Seeing, feeling
With just a wave of a strong right hand
He's gone
To the temple of the king

Far from the circle at the edge of the world
He's hoping, wondering
Thinking back from the stories he's heard
Of what he's going to see

There in middle of the circle it lies
Heaven help me
Then all could see by the shine in his eyes
The answer had been found

Back with the people in the circle
He stands
Giving, feeling
With just one touch of a strong right hand
They know
Of the temple and the king


If You Don't Like Rock and Roll

You'd never know there was some music playin'
Until you talked your way inside the door

And then a sound like rollin' thunder
Begins to push you right thru the floor

And there's a great white sign
With big black letters
That just about explains it all

If you don't like rock 'n' roll
Well, if you don't like rock 'n' roll
If you don't like rock 'n' roll
Then it's too late now
Well it's too late now

Hey hey
Of course there was the usual lady
And she was dressed the way the stories tell

So bein' cool I made a move to grab her
But you could see she read story well

And then she whipped out a card
With big black letters

That just about explained it all
Well if you don't like rock 'n' roll
If you don't like rock 'n' roll
Well if you don't like rock 'n' roll
Then you're too late now
Then you're too late now

Well, if you don't like rock 'n' roll
Well, if you don't like rock 'n' roll, yeah
If you don't like rock 'n' roll
Well it's too late nown
You're too late now

If you don't like rock 'n' roll
If you don't like my rock 'n' roll
Then you're too late now
Then you're too late now
Then you're too late, too late now


Sixteenth Century Greensleeves

It's only been an hour
Since he locked her in the tower
The time has come
He must be undone
By the morning

Many times before
The tyrant's opened up the door
Then someone cries
Still we close our eyes
Not again

Meet me when the sun is in the western skies
The fighting must begin before another someone dies
Cross bows in the fire light
Green sleeves waving
Madmen raving
Through the shattered night
Yeah yeah yeah

Flames are getting higher
Make it leap unto the spire
Draw bridge down
Cut it to the ground
We shall dance around the fire

No more night
We have seen the light
Let it shine on bright
Hang him higher, higher

Draw bridge down
Cut it to the ground
We shall dance all around the fire, around the fire

No more night
we've seen the light
let it shine on bright

Hang him higher, higher
Put the man on the fire

Draw bridge down
Cut it to the ground
We gotta dance around the fire, the fire, the fire



Man On the Silver Mountain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nfV...eature=related

Sixteenth Century Greensleeves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP2gG...eature=related

The Temple Of the King:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj3mK...eature=related

Catch the Rainbow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZFKw...eature=related

[ABlairican Pie]

For the next album, Ritchie Blackmore fired all members of his current lineup of Rainbow, due to frustration with the band's funk-rock leanings, which he attempted to avoid with Deep Purple. The only member he kept was Ronnie. Blackmore summoned Cozy Powell, Jeff Beck's drummer, as well as bassist Jimmy Bain, and American keyboard player Tony Carey for the new lineup of Rainbow which would go on to record their followup, Rising, in 1976.

The album featured such tracks as the popular track "Stargazer", "Tarot Woman", "Do You Close Your Eyes", and the epic "A Light In the Black". The album hit #48 on the U.S. charts.

Stargazer


High noon, oh I'd sell my soul for water
Nine years worth of breakin' my back
There's no sun in the shadow of the wizard
See how he glides, why he's lighter than air?
Oh I see his face!

Where is your star?
Is it far, is it far, is it far?
When do we leave?
I believe, yes, I believe

In the heat and the rain
With whips and chains
To see him fly
So many die
We build a tower of stone
With our flesh and bone
Just to see him fly
But don't know why
Now where do we go?

Hot wind, moving fast across the desert
We feel that our time has arrived
The world spins, while we put his dream together
A tower of stone to take him straight to the sky
Oh I see his face!

Where is your star?
Is it far, is it far, is it far?
When do we leave?
Hey, I believe, I believe

In the heat and the rain
With whips and chains
Just to see him fly
Too many die
We build a tower of stone
With our flesh and bone
To see him fly
But we don't know why
Ooh, now where do we go

All eyes see the figure of the wizard
As he climbs to the top of the world
No sound, as he falls instead of rising
Time standing still, then there's blood on the sand
Oh I see his face!

Where was your star?
Was it far, was it far
When did we leave?
We believed, we believed, we believed

In heat and rain
With the whips and chains
To see him fly
So many died
We built a tower of stone
With our flesh and bone
To see him fly

But why
In all the rain
With all the chains
Did so many die
Just to see him fly

Look at my flesh and bone
Now, look, look, look, look,
Look at his tower of stone
I see a rainbow rising
Look there, on the horizon
And I'm coming home, I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Time is standing still
He gave back my will
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Going home
I'm going home

My eyes are bleeding
And my heart is leaving here
But it's not home
But it's not home
Ooh

Take me back
He gave me back my will
Ooh ooh ooh ooh

Going home
I'm going home

My eyes are bleeding
And my heart is leaving here
But it's not home
But it's not home
Ooh

Take me back, take me back
Back to my home ooh, ooh, ooh




Stargazer (long studio version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6IPBN6ARkE

[ABlairican Pie]

Do You Close Your Eyes

Oh na na na na
Mystery to me is something I can't see
But I see you very well
You're slinky, cool, nobody's fool
But there's something inside I can tell

I know a poor man, a rich man
I know I can talk to a king
But nobody here is gonna tell me
I can't find out one thing

I see a glow around you
Open your arms 'cause I'm walking to you, coming straight or through
Maybe I'm wrong but I know it won't take long to see
Do you close your eyes
Do you close your eyes
Do you close your eyes when you making love, yeah, yeah
Making sweet love to me, yeah

The logical trend has said I'll know in the end
The things that make you smile
So right from the start, I take an aim at your heart
and know that all the while

I know a rich man, a poor man
I know I can talk to a king, yeah
So nobody here is gonna make me believe
I can't find out one thing

I see a glow around you
Open your arms 'cause I'm coming, running, straight on through
I could be wrong but I know it won't take long to see
Do you close your eyes
Do you close your eyes
Do you close your eyes when you making love, yeah

Do you close your eyes
Do you close your eyes, I've gotta know
Do you close your eyes when you making love

[ABlairican Pie]

Tarot Woman

I don't wanna go
Something tells me no, no, no, no
But traces in the sand
The lines that set my hand
Say go, go, go

Beware of a place
A smile of a bright shining face

I'll never return, how do you know?
Tarot woman
I don't know
I don't know

She can take you there
The entrance to the fair
Mine, mine, mine

Ride the carousel
And cast a magic spell
You can fly, fly

Beware of a place
A smile of a brigh shining face

I'll never return, how do you know?
Tarot woman, well I don't know
I don't know
I don't know
I don't know

Something in the air
Tells me to beware, no, no, no
Her love is like a knife
She'll carve away your life
So go, go, go

Beware of a place
A smile of a bright shining face

I'll never return, how do you know?
Tarot woman, I don't know
I don't know
I don't know
Hey, I don't know


Light In the Black

Can't forget his face
What a lonely place
Has he really let us go?

All the time that's lost
What's the final cost
Will I really get away?

All my life it seems
Just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star

Can't believe it all
Did he really fall
What to do now I don't know

Something's called me back
There's a light in the black
Am I ready to go?
I'm coming home

Breathed the air before
Heard the thunder roar
Never knew it was for me

Always looking down
Lost and never found
Eyes that look but not to see

All my life it seems
Just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star

Like an open door
That you've passed before
But you've never had the key

Something's calling me back
There's a light in the black
Am I ready to go?

I'm coming home, I'm coming home, yeah
I'm going back to my home

I'm going home, home, home
Going home, home, home
I'm coming back

Don't forget his face
What a lonely place
Did he really let us go

All the time that's lost
What's the final cost
Will I really get away?

All my life it seems
Just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star

Can't believe it all
Did he really fall
What to do now, well I don't know

Something's calling me back
Like a light in the black
Yes, I?m ready to go
I'm coming home, home, yeah

I've got my way back home
To the sky
There in the sky
I see your star

[ABlairican Pie]

The tempermental, mercurial Ritchie Blackmore decided that bassist Jimmy Bain was not up to par for the band and dismissed him. After going through a few bassists Blackmore decided to play bass himself on most of the new album, titled Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, released in 1978. The album included such tracks as the concert staple "Kill the King", "Lady Of the Lake", "L.A. Connection",
"Sensitive To Light", and the anthemic title track.

The inner sleeve concert picture, amazingly, is actually a crowd photo from a Rush concert, with the Rush logo on a banner airbrushed over, and superimposed with the Rainbow logo, and and Rush t-shirts designs blacked out!

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

At the end of a dream
If you know where I mean
When the mist just starts to clear

In a similar way
At the end of today
I could feel the sound of writing on the wall
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do

Like a syren on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live Rock and Roll
Long live Rock 'n' Roll
Long live Rock and Roll

in a different time
When the words didn't rhyme
You could never quite be sure
Then on with the change
It was simple but strange
And you knew the feeling seemed to say it all
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a syren on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live Rock and Roll
Long live Rock 'n' Roll
Long live Rock and Roll

If you suddenly see
What has happened to me
You should spread the word around

And tell everyone here
That it's perfectly clear
They can sail above it all on what they've found
It cries for you
It's the best that you can do
Like a sound that's everywhere
I can hear it screaming through the air
Long live Rock and Roll
Long live Rock 'n' Roll
Long live Rock and Roll

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by ABlairican Pie

The tempermental, mercurial Ritchie Blackmore decided that bassist Jimmy Bain was not up to par for the band and dismissed him. After going through a few bassists Blackmore decided to play bass himself on most of the new album, titled Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, released in 1978. The album included such tracks as the concert staple "Kill the King", "Lady Of the Lake",
"L.A. Connection", "Sensitive To Light", and the anthemic title track.

The inner sleeve concert picture, amazingly, is actually a crowd photo from a Rush concert, with the Rush logo on a banner airbrushed over, and superimposed with the Rainbow logo, and and Rush t-shirts designs blacked out!

That makes no sense whatsoever -- I'm sure there were plenty of shots from Rainbow shows. Maybe it was done in haste and they had to meet a deadline.

Rush should sue Ritchie Blackmore for royalties.

[ABlairican Pie]

Lady Of the Lake

There's a magical sound slidin' over the ground
Makin' it shiver and shake
And a permanent cry fallin' out of the sky
Slippery and sly like a snake

With a delicate move kind of shifty and smooth
A shadow has covered the light
Then a beam in the shade from a silvery blade
Has shattered the edge of the night

I know she waits below
Only to rise on command
When she comes for me
She's got my life in her hands

When a movement behind hit the side of my mind
I trembled and shook it away
Then another assault and I started to faulter
Fibres of steel turned to clay

With a bubbly turn now the water should churn
And push it way from the core
And a lady in white will bring sun to the night
Brighter than ever before

I know she waits below
Only to rise on command
When she comes for me
She's got my life in her hands
Lady of the lake

There's a magical sound slidin' over the ground
Makin' it shiver and shake
And a permanent cry fallin' out of the sky
Slippery and sly like a snake

With a delicate move kind of shifty and smooth
A shadow has covered the light
Then a beam in the shade from a slivery blade
Has shattered the edge of the night

Straight down I'm swirling around
Blinded and bruised by the strain
There must be some way to see
Diamonds out of the rain

I know she waits below
Only to rise on command
When she comes for me
She's got my life in her hands
Lady of the lake